Henry duebll



(No Model.)

H. & P. H. DURELL.

. BREECH LOADING ORDNANGE.

Paten'pedfApr. l, 1884.

N, PETERS, Phuwmnagnphnr. washington. D. C.

UNrTED STATES PATENT OrEicEe HENRY DURELL, OF VEST MORRISANIA, NEYV YORK, AND FRANK H. DUREIQL, OF BAY CITY, MICHIGAN; SAID HENRY DURELL ASSIGNOR TO SAID FRANK H. DURELL.

BREECH-LOADING ORDNANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 29,281, dated April l, 1884.

(No model.)

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY DUEELL, of Vest Morrisania, in the county of New York ,and State of New York, and FRANK H. DU-

RELL, of Bay City, in the county of Bay and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ordnance; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,

1o such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form partof this specification.

Our invention relates to an improvement in ordnance; and it consists, first, in the combination of an internal barrel, with a series of .thin disks made of any suitable material, and which are placed over the barrel and there clamped together by means of suitable drawbolts, which pass entirely through the disks, and suitable breech and muzzle plates, which are placed directly upon the ends ofthe barrel, and which plates serve to additionally tighten the disks together after the draw-bolts 2 5 have been set up; second, in forming the trunnion of the gun of two semicircular pieces of iron, which are passed around the gun, and which have their ends turned outward, so as to receive a collar, sleeve, or other suitable 3o device upon them, and which collar or sleeve serves both to rigidly connect the two pieces together and to form the bearings or trunnions upon which the gun turns.

The object of our invention is to dispense 3 5 with the immense cost of casting guns, and to substitute therefor a method of' making guns of any size and caliber, which can'be readily carried into effect in any machine-shop, and to enable the guns to be taken apart for 4o transportrtion and readily disabled in case they have to be abandoned.

Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section of our invention. Fig. 2 is a view of the rear end of the gun with thebreech-plate removed.

4 5 Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section taken through the trunnion. Fig. 4 is a faceview of the trunnion. ofthe gun.

A represents the gun, which may be either a breech or muzzle loader, and of any shape, size, length, or caliber that may be preferred. In constructing this gun we take an internal barrel, B, which is screw-threaded at each of its ends, and upon the front end place the muzzle-plate O, of any desired thickness, and secure it in place by means of a nut, O. Passing through this muzzle-plate are a suitable number of draw-bolts, D, which have their heads recessed or countersunk, and which bolts eX- tend almost the full length of the gun. Upon this inner barrel are placed a suitable number of thin disks, R, which will have holes through their centers just large enough to be forced over the barrel, and which will have smaller bolt-holes through them, for the drawbolts to pass through. The inner barrel or bore serves to give the gun not only additional strength, but to form a guide upon which the disks are built. After the front end of thegun has been built of the desired length, and it is intended to build the gun with re-enforces, a second 7o thick metallic plate, T, will be passed over the inner barrel, so as to rest against the inner ends of the disks in position, and then larger disks than used upon the front end of the barrel will be placed in position against this plate. Additional draw-bolts, F, will be passed through this plate, and these bolts will extend backward through the remaining disks of the gun. Where a second re-enforee is to be formed, another thick metallic plate, G, will be placed against the ends of the disks already in position, and then the building of the gun will be carried on with disks of the same diameter as the plate G. Upon the rear end of each one of the draw-bolts is placed a nut, by means of which the plates can be clamped rigidly together. rIhe rear end of the barrel is made long enough to project a suitable distance beyond the disks, so that the breech-plate I, having a number of recesses made in its inner side, to iit over the nuts on the ends of the bolts, is passed over the end of the barrel, and this plate is then clamped against the ends of the disks by means ofthe nut O. This nut and plate serve to give additional strength to the 9 5' gun in clamping the disks tightly togethen Where the gun is to be a breech-loader, the breech-pin will be passed through or into the rear end of the barrel in any suitable manner.

Each one of the disks in this gun being made of Va thin plate of steel, it can be readily and easily made, easily handled, and easily placed in position. As the grain of each disk runs in a different direction from the one which is placed next to it, it will be almost impossible to burst the gun by any ordinary charge that may be used. As these disks are each made separate and distinct, every part of each one can be inspected, so as to see that it is perfect before it is placed in position. As the disks are to be stamped out, it will be readily seen that they can be made in any machine-shop in the country, and then quickly put together, or be transported by rail or vessel to any point where the gun is needed. Should a heavy gun be desired in any section of the country, it can be dismounted and taken apart, and then sent to the place where it is to be used, and then put together again. Should a gun have to be abandoned Vat any time during a battle or siege, by removing the draw-bolts and a few of the parts the gun can be disabled, so that it will ,be impossible to use it until the missing parts have been replaced.

rlhe greatest advantage in the construction above described consists in doing away with the immense foundries now needed for the casting of guns, and the immense amount of time and laborrequired to complete a gun of even ordinarysize. Guns of the heaviest caliber can be made in a machine-shop, and so rapidly and of any caliber that may be desired that any demand which can possibly arise can be filled in a few days notice.

In order to still further add to the strength of the gun, around the rear end vof the barrel B are placed any suitable number of layers or grommets, which are formed of wire or wires,

around which a Wire or series of wires are wound. These grommets ,will extend back from the rst re-'enforce or from any intermediate point. The thin metallic plates then come in contact with the grommets instead of the barrel. v f i n f The trun'nion of the gun is formed of two semicireular pieces of iron, V, which have their ends turned outward, as shown in Fig. 3, and made screw-threaded, so as to receive the sleeves X, which are screwed on them. These ends do not come in close contact with each other, so that as the sleeveis screwed into place it will clamp the two parts V rigidly in place around the gun. If so desired, the ends may be made slightly tapering, and the sleeve correspondingly shaped. A

Having thus described our invention, we clainr- 1. The combination of the inner barrel or bore, a muzzle-plate secured to the front end of the barrel, a series of disks, and a series of draw-bolts, with a metallic plate placed at the beginning of the re-enforcement, and a second series of disks and draw-bolts, the second set of draw-bolts being passed from the metallic plate through the rear series of disks, a breechturned outward, so as to receive a screw col-y lar or sleeve, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY DURELL. FRANK H. DURELL.

Witnesses:

F. A. LEHMANN, E. D. YORK. 

